The present invention comprises a new Salvia, botanically known as Salvia×hybrid, and hereinafter referred to by the variety name ‘Mes Pur’.
‘Mes Pur’ is a product of a planned breeding program. The new cultivar ‘Mes Pur’ has purple-violet flower color, upright, well branched, dense and bushy habit, medium green foliage and large sized flowers that are early flowering.
‘Mes Pur’ originated from an open pollination cross in a controlled breeding program in Gilroy, Calif. USA. The female parent was an unpatented, proprietary hybrid seedling Salvia greggii×(S. microphylla×S. coaheuilensis) identified as ‘82-3’ with light purple color. ‘82-3’ has fewer flowers, a taller and more open plant habit and darker foliage than ‘Mes Pur.’ The male parent of ‘Mes Pur’ was unknown.
‘Mes Pur’ was selected as one flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross in September 2005 in a controlled environment in Gilroy, Calif. USA. The pollination took place in July 2004 and the seed sowing in May 2005.
The first act of asexual reproduction of ‘Mes Pur’ was accomplished when vegetative cuttings were taken from the initial selection in the September 2005 in a controlled environment in Gilroy, Calif. USA.
Horticultural examination of plants grown from cuttings of the plant initiated in September 2005 in Gilroy, Calif. USA, and continuing thereafter, has demonstrated that the combination of characteristics as herein disclosed for ‘Mes Pur’ are firmly fixed and are retained through successive generations of asexual reproduction.
‘Mes Pur’ has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary significantly with variations in environment such as temperature, light intensity and day length.
A Plant Breeder's Right for this cultivar was applied for in Canada on Dec. 24, 2007. ‘Mes Pur’ has not been made publicly available more than one year prior to the filing of this application.